You Can't Teach A New Dog Old Trix
by slytherinesque
Summary: Harry Potter. Draco Malfoy. Ron. Hermione. Snape. All victims. Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix Lestrange. Voldemort. All guilty. Who will be the one to save them all in this time they call war? A tale of darkness, laughter, hope, fear, tragedy, music and love.


It was late. The moon was out, the stars were shining. It was the perfect night. The room was cold, in spite of the roaring fire. The floor was made of stone, as were the walls. The furniture was a deep emerald green, the table, bookcases and desks an earth brown. Despite the vast amount of possessions the room held, it had an oddly empty feel. Perhaps it was due to the lack of feeling that came from the inhabitants. A family sat around their fireplace, flames illuminating their faces. A man with harsh facial tones sat stiffly in a leather-clad chair, his long blonde hair cascading over broad shoulders, indulged in the newspaper. His wife sat opposite, relaxed on the sofa, the same long blonde hair falling to her waist, soft curls bouncing as she wrote invitations to her next social event. Her son sat on the floor, directly in front of the fireplace. The light flickered over his face, giving the impression of warmth and light. This was the wrong impression. His features had the same harshness of his fathers, the same white blonde hair, and the same paleness of a ghost. He was skinny, and too tall for his age. The boy was doing nothing. He just sat there, staring at the blue, yellow and red. What he was imaging, no one could tell, he would not break the silence that was held in the room, for fear of punishment.

This was the families' routine. Each day they would eat dinner, then progress to the sitting room, where they would sit in silence, each contemplating their day's activities. For the father it would be his work, how to gain more power and money. The mother would process what big event to plan for next, how to climb the next step in the social ladder. The son, however, would rush through memories of his childhood. He usually followed around his mother, visiting her 'social acquaintances' ad returning home to do preparation work for school. Not that he would start school for another 6 years. But his father had stated that he must learn the basics first, so that he would become top of his class when school started. The boy did not want to learn the basics, he was happy to sit and play with whatever objects he could lay his hands on around the house, but his father's word was law, so he obeyed.

Other days he would visit his aunt's house and play with his cousin. These were the days he enjoyed best. He got on enormously well with his cousin. They were alike in every sense if the word, the same personality, the same sense of dry wit, and the same need for competition, to be better than the rest. The only thing that was different was their appearances, but that was to be expected. His mother was the exact opposite of her sister. Where his mother's hair was white blonde, his aunt's was jet black. His mother's eyes were thin, long and electric blue; his aunts were spherical and emerald green. His mother's lips were pale pink and thin. His aunts were full and a blood red; even without the liberal amount of scarlet lipstick she applied. His mother was shorter and very frail, whereas his aunt was tall and carried her strong toned body with haughtiness. They were both beautiful women. He was the spit image of his father and mother combined; his cousin was a miniature version of her mother.

On the days when he would spend time with his cousin, they would have liberal amounts of fun in her mansion. Whether it would they would be teasing the house elves, or plotting various schemes to enter areas of the house that were heavily warded against the children, they would make sure their days were eventful. He was in awe of his cousin. She never failed to invent some game or plan that would result in serious punishment for the both of them, but would leave them with the memories they would never forget. He sometimes thought that the chance of being caught and punished, which was usually certain with the lack of planning his cousin put in to their games, outweighed the fun of the game in question, but he could never let his cousin see his fear. That would show that she was more fearless than him, and he could not let her see that. However he would always regret that competitive part of him when he would return home that evening, his mother furiously explaining to his father why he had covered his new robes in blood and dirt. His father would reach for his wand and cast some sort of pain curse on him, the whipping curse preferred at the moment, expecting his son to learn his lesson. But he never did. He would return to his cousins a week later and take part in the next elaborate scheme his cousin created. He could only imagine the punishment his cousin got. Her parents were much harsher than his, he regularly saw his aunt giving his cousin a slap around the ear, and she was usually covered in bruises on her arms and neck. He never asked however, because it was not polite to ask a woman about her life, if she did not offer the information, as his father told him often.

For the boy was a pure blood wizard. He was the latest descendant of one of the richest and pure families in wizarding history. He had been brought up in the strictest of manners. Never rest your arms on the table. Eat slowly, cut up your food properly. Never slouch, sit straight. Walk slowly; hold your head high. These were about 1 of the social etiquette rules that he had to follow, and woe betides him if he disobeyed. He had learnt in his 5 years of life that certain things in life were just not done, such as boasting and curiosity. He had no doubt that in a few years he would be just like his father. Yet he was not sure that he wanted this life. The boy constantly felt like he was missing out on something, like there was something more to life. He could not think what this missing link could be, although he felt almost complete when he visited his cousin. He put the feeling down to not having a sibling. He knew however, that he would never have a sibling. It was a mark of the pure blood families, and a tradition of his family name in particular that there would only be one child per generation, and this child would always be a male, to carry on the family line. He did not want to think what would happen if a girl was born. He could only imagine some horrible death.

He did not know that the magic his family engaged in was mostly classed as dark art. What he saw in his day today life, the torturing of house elves, the cursed objects that were discarded, or sent to unknowing recipients, he thought this was normal, and he fully expected every other wizarding household to be like this in private, even if he did not see it anywhere else except his and his cousins houses. He was learning the basis of this magic, and other magic, and he knew that in time he would be taught to use against whomever he wished. But now was not the time to dwell on thoughts on the distant future. It would all begin in time.

His father glanced up from his paper.

'It is time to sleep, son. A house elf will escort you to bed'

'Yes, father. Goodnight mother.' As he turned around the kiss his mother goodnight, he saw she was not viewing him, but the fireplace, where the flames had turned a vivid green. All of a sudden, a girl with jet-black hair and blood red lips fell through the flames. He stared on shocked as his cousin led unconscious on the stone floor, a letter clutched in her hand.

As his father tugged the letter out of her hand, she stirred feebly.

'Draco…' she said as she stared into his eyes. 'What…' But she had lost consciousness again. Draco could not move. He could only stare. Something was wrong. His father spoke up again.

'She is now a Malfoy. You will treat her as your sister Draco. She will live as one of us until either the unexpected happens or until the end.'

Draco nodded, contemplating the situation. _Until the end_.

It was only the beginning.

* * *

_Well, this is the first chapter, hope you like it!_

_As you can see the main characters will be Draco and his cousin, who isn't Tonks. You'll find out more in time. The story will take into account the events of the 1-5 books (not necessarily the personalities, thoughts and feelings of the characters), but the story will change from then onwards, and of course there will be an added character. It'll be difficult, but hopefully it will work!_

_Please read and review!_

_I will answer any questions you have!_


End file.
